Fuming.

It has been a few days now since that "test" Hanami-san conducted and the days have been peaceful so far.
Yesterday we ended our one month deal and I ultimately decided to move in with the both of them. 
In the meantime I also started a routine that consists in three hours of workout at the gym followed by four hours on the seventh floor gathering knowledge about the games I don't know, namely: VR games, TCG and FPS games. However I did not consider taking a coach to learn boxing since I don't like sports or activities in which you work on muscle memory essentially. Although if it still existed, I would have loved to learn Kendo.
Lastly, I spend one to three hours at the usual bookstore to either monitor Akemi or to relax before I have to go on patrol as part of Hanami's police unit.

The reason I train video games is because in this city there are three means to earn what you want. 
One: Bringing a lot of money.
Two: Challenging people through gambling, video games or fistfights.
Three: Graduating from the academy with the Stella stamp.
So since I quit studying, am not interested in fistfights and have yet to earn any money for my own, it leaves me with two choices, gambling which includes TCG, and video games.
So Hanami-san and I came up with the following plan:
Makoto would keep on gambling and earn money as well as attract attention towards him. Which will also lure his family into believing he is still doing as he was told to.
Tanabe-san who was recently recruited will take part in fistfights.
Hanami-san will organize more tournaments and open training sessions by funding them and providing referees herself to make sure there is no cheating happening.
And finally I will have to chose in which field I want to compete once I am done training and studying.
Shion-san could help in any category however Hanami-san returned her to the main estate for a while as the head maid of the household, and more importantly as a spy whose goal will be to keep track on what the subjects of discussion between the families from the first district are.

"Hanami-san, now that our plan seems to take roots would you be so kind as to tell me what happened to Tanabe-san for him to join us ? I also have a few questions about Makoto."

"Sure. The deal was simple, I told him that the job he had been deceived into taking was sadly a necessary job in this city and that he simply happened to be under the wrong "boss". So then if he was to ever overcome his trauma and was ready to take revenge against the people letting these kind of scams happen, I was willing to hire him as a hitman or a spy."

"I imagine he did not have the resolve to take your offer right off the bat so what happened to him in the meantime ?"

"Yeah, so since I am aware of his situation thanks to you, I suggested to recommend him as a butler in the mansion my aunt owns in the first district in order for him to still make money while he ponders over my offer."

"Is that the main estate of your family you told me about ?"

"That's right."

"So then if you sent Shion-san there, it was also to train Tanabe-san, am I wrong ?"

"No that's correct once again, getting sharper aren't we ?"

"..."

"Jokes aside, guess what ? On his second day there he called me in the middle of the night to ask me if it was ok to accept my proposal."

"What happened ?"

"Apparently he was on duty at a seccret gathering between my family and the Nagamines and he overheard some disturbing things about how the latter treated their children, which ignited "the flame of revenge within him" as he told me, and that motivated his call."

"How could something so stupid happen, don't they know they should not talk about this kind of topic in front of strangers ? What were they thinking ? To be so defensless, I wonder how they were able to keep their standing up until now. And by the way, what did he hear exactly if it's not too much asking ?"

"There are a few reasons for this carelessness of theirs. The first one being they believe they are unreachable as long as they remain in the first district. And they are right to think so, lots of guards and spies from the governement and the Minamoto clan are constantly keeping watch on every little cranny you could find there. The second reason for their behavior is that they don't exactly know how I am or what I do, in fact I let them see what I want them to see. So they must think that if I never caused a ruckus up 'til now, this must mean I follow their footsteps even if I am the cursed child. So they will simply not doubt or fear someone I send to them. And you need to keep in mind how Tanabe struggles with his speech, which screams poor education and a childhood in the countryside, so they will only lower their guards around him."

"It definitely makes sense when you put it like that indeed."

"Now as for what he has heard exactly, Makoto's mother explained how and why they sent him to the second and third district but also that they sold some of his siblings and cousins to the Minamotos in exchange for money and stocks in the tower activities."

"No wonder he would come back to you after hearing that."

"You said it."

"Now how about Makoto ? I remember two weeks ago him earning some cash through gambling and loosing it all to Shion-san, but wasn't he supposed to already be one of your underling back then ?"

"Hahaha that's a pretty funny story in fact. The thing is we met eachother at the Stella Academy that you know, and back then we were hanging out a lot together, skipping classes and such. And one day we decided to buy our way into the tower just for fun and to test if the rumor about being able to earn anything with money was true or not. But we ended up going a bit too far and were invited to join a group of people visiting the lower floors. I mean the underground ones. And that's when we witnessed experiments being conducted on humans. Mainly teenagers or elderly. It was terrifying. And the most fearsome aspect of all that was the people's reactions. They were in awe, praising and discussing the details we were presented about those atrocities."

"I don't get how that is a funny story though."

"Yeah my bad I wasn't supposed to go into details about that part but I felt like it wouldn't hurt to tell you while I am at it."

"It does hurt."

"Whatever, that's not the point. Let me continue. So, of course we couldn't sustain this much pressure and anxiety so we fled. Which also means we don't remember much about what we heard, as opposed to how deep the visual display rooted itself into our minds. And now getting slowly to the actual fun part, we decided to quit the academy and form some sort of resistance to fight against what we saw. My goal would be to climb the social standing and to raise funds thanks to my name and the tools at my disposal, and his would be to find a way to gather as much money as possible in shorter amounts of time. Which is how he started gambling. Which then gave the idea to their parents, to send him into the slums. And now the fun part is that you need to know that he never met Shion, and I never introduced her to him, it slipped my mind at some point. So what happened back at the casino the other day is that he ripped off a ridiculous amount of money through a gamble with some stupid old man who happened to put too much on the line because he was a drunkyard, and then out of good will Makoto decided to lose it on purpose to Shion, thinking she, a maid, was there because her daily life was suffocating. And he told me he does that a lot, helping people this way. But you get the point, it's actually pretty crazy that in the end he simply did his initial job thinking about doing a good deed."

"His heart is definitely at the right place. 

"Right ?"

"Let's keep our resistance going then and let's hope we will be able to involve more people of his caliber."

"Yeah let's. I have to say by the way, it's refreshing to see you so pumped up about it. Galvanising is the right word to convey how it feels. Even if it still won't show on your face."

"It may have happened if not for these last few words of yours."

"It's fine, I swore to make you laugh your lungs out one day, so you'd better prepare yourself for that moment."

It must be this earnest side of hers when she is talking about something that may not feel very important to anyone but her, that makes me want to spend more time by her side. 
I don't have anything I consider important to me, so maybe this warmth I feel is an expression of jealousy. I wonder.

"Ah Hanami-san I just recalled , there was another subjet I wanted to have your input on, do you mind ?"

"Go ahead."

"I read in an history book your family descended from the first bearers of the name Minamoto and and that they did have a significant impact on the history post Minamoto's reign, and it is said that both Minamotos and later the Ashikagas were on a quest to pacify the different regions of our country. Does that explain why the current ruler offered your family the position you have in the hierarchy ?"

"Interesting, so you've done some research about that huh. You're right on your assumption, my father told me Minamoto Hideyoshi, the current heir and ruler, wanted to honor his and my ancestors' actions and thus offered my parents a special seat by his side. They obviously accepted the offer which explains indeed my current standing as the head of that family."

"I see, and this must be heartwarming for someone interested in the old tales and legacy of our country."

"Do you imply I am one of them?"

"By no means."

"Well, you're wrong to think that. I actually do care a lot about my family's history in fact."

"I admit it surprises me, but then would you mind telling me more ? It certainly piqued my interest quite vividly."

"Haha I bet it did. Well it all started with the books my older brother read me. They told stories of what felt like the golden age of our family name. And you would mainly learn about how without as much power as our predecessor had, namely the Minamotos, our family was able to play a decisive role in different conflicts and battles, and how they kept the Minamotos' will going even after their fall. That being said I have to admit it always felt a little too good to believe, and I certainly did not care so much about the truth at the time, but slowly as my brother and then my parents kept on feeding me with all that glory they expected me to feel proud of, I grew curious. And that's when I decided to do some more reesearch on my own and got hooked. It may be from around a thousand years ago now, but after learning that my name may not have been as white as my parents tried to lead me to believe, it certainly is a name I think I can be proud of. They did some good things and some less honorable things, but in the end I think I can respect who my ancestors were and not feel ashamed to keep their name. And that is all I could have asked for."

"Truly fascinating. Even without that much details, simply listening to you talking about a subjet you are this interested in, makes it captivating. By the way, wasn't Shion-san's family name Kataoka ? If so, aren't they descendant from the first Minamoto clan as well ?"

"Glad to hear as much. And yeah this is correct. However there is a nuance. I hope Shion will pardon me for what I am about to reveal you.."

"It's fine if you don't want to go on. I would be delighted to have my curiosity completely satisfied, but not if it ends up causing or even if it only risks to cause harm to someone else. Someone dear to you at that."

"It's ok, I don't think she would mind that much. She is over it by now."

"As long as you can be sure of that fact."

"Yeah, and I want to trust you so it can still work as a test."

"Understood."

"It's not a long story this time but it deals a good blow nevertheless."

"..."

"So as you said earlier, Kataoka is indeed a name coming from a descendant of the Minamoto's original clan. And while that is the case, as you may know, this name doesn't weigh much in today's society. The reason for that is that each and every single child from this houshold since they came to this city, has been average in talent, skill. They do not perform particularily well in studies, they are not even that well built and no one in this family has a trait that could serve as an identity for the whole group. What I mean by that is, they do not feel like nobles. They are not unrivaled in any field, and they did not accomplish so much in the past that could lead the Minamotos to show them more respect than any other household. And as such, they were reduced to holding what feels like the servant factory. They produce servants, and even slaves."

"I remember Shion-san talking about how she had been sold as a slave to your family, is that what it was ?"

"Not exactly. Truth is, Shion's real name is Minamoto. She is the only child of Minamoto Hideyoshi's sister. However as I already told you, and you must have been able to confirm it for yourself since then, Shion is good at almost everything she tries. And that condition follows her since she was born."

"So then not only did she lost her name and was separated from her parents, she was then sold as a slave to your family as if she was coming from the Kataoka household ? Is that what there is to understand ?"

"As much as it pains me to admit it, yes you are completely right. Minamoto Hideyoshi could not live with the fact that the child of his sister was "better" than his own children. And since the next heir can come from anyone within the clan and Hideyoshi refused to concede the honor to have one of his children inherit the throne, he decided to ban Shion and her parents from the clan. And obviously he did not stop there and even banned her parents from the city."

"I can't believe the person in charge of this country or let's say, this city, is such an asshole.
What is wrong with these people ? How in the world can a mere title be so important you'd ruin other people's lives. This is infuriating."

"Exactly so you get why I am ready to use all the means at my disposal to make this revolution come true, right ?"

"Damn right yeah."

"Perfect, never forget this anger you feel right now."

I'm truly out of my mind.
And Hanami-san's look in her eyes only further confirms how much our anger is justified.
For now all I can do is focus on my studies, but then I swear to put my soul into this plan Hanami-san has been following and improving over the past few years.
We need to take down that disaster of a clan.